The Ontario Court of Appeal in Ziebenhaus v. Bahlieda, 2015 ONCA 471, recently provided clarification on a contentious issue in personal injury litigation. The plaintiff sustained a brain injury in a skiing accident while on a school trip to Mount St. Louis Moonstone Ski Resort. An action was commenced with the plaintiff seeking damages for future loss of income and future loss of competitive advantage, as well as other heads of damage.
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Corbett v Odorico, 2016 ONSC 2961 (CanLII)
[19] In the present case, the defendants did not make any offer that could be characterized as a“near miss”. They made an offer, which if accepted, would have paid the plaintiff $7. This presented the plaintiff with the proposition that, on the eve of trial, she should walk away from her case with no compensation, or proceed through trial. In my view, to impose a rule arbitrarily limiting the amount of costs to some proportion of the recovery when there has been no offer of settlement, or only a nominal offer as in this case, would undermine the purpose of Rule 49, which is to encourage settlement by attaching costs consequences for failure to make or accept reasonable offers. It would also encourage the type of “hard ball” approach to settlement employed in this case.
[25] I respectfully agree with the observations of the judges in these three cases. In the circumstances of the present case, it would be an injustice to the plaintiffs to deprive them of an otherwise appropriate and reasonable award of costs due to a modest recovery at trial, in the face of a $7.00 settlement offer from the defendant.
Disposition
[26] In summary, in considering the defendant’s position on settlement, the relevant factors under Rules 49.13 and 57, including the offers made, the results of the trial and considerations of proportionality, I award the plaintiffs their costs of the action on a partial indemnity basis as follows: fees in the sum of $159,249, HST in the sum of $20,702.48 and disbursements in the sum of $89,347, payable by the defendant within 30 days hereof.
The cost of insurance fraud – Fedeli
Speaker, organized insurance fraud is a serious problem that impacts the cost of insurance for all consumers. It’s estimated to cost upwards of $1 billion in Ontario alone. A recent undercover investigation, widely televised, reveals staff at professional clinics encouraging and counseling undercover investigators to commit fraud.
Limitation period a poor defence for legal malpractice
Personal-injury lawyers who advise their clients to settle for amounts deemed improvidently low could face malpractice claims many years after the settlement.
SAMS’s bill: Over $600,000
Brantford and Brant County councillors are stepping up pressure on the provincial government to provide an estimated $600,000 in compensation over the problematic rollout of a welfare and disability payment system.
http://www.brantfordexpositor.
Sahinbay v. Da Silva, 2016 ONCA 333 (CanLII)
ENDORSEMENT
[1] The appellant is represented by counsel today. Counsel argues that at the trial of the action, the appellant was self-represented, was taking unreasonable positions, lacked counsel due to factors beyond his control, and suffered a head injury. He submits that given these circumstances, the trial judge, of his own initiative, ought to have adjourned the trial so that the appellant could confer with counsel.
[2] We do not accept the appellant’s submission.
[3] A reading of the transcript of proceedings reveals that the trial judge conducted a fair trial. He repeatedly offered the appellant an adjournment of the trial but these offers were repeatedly refused. He also pointed out the weaknesses of the appellant’s case in the absence of properly tendered evidence.
[4] Moreover, we reject the argument, raised for the first time today, that counsel for the respondent was obliged to do more in the circumstances. Again, a review of the transcript does not support such a complaint.
[5] The appeal is dismissed. Costs are awarded to the respondents in the amount of $2,000 inclusive of disbursements and applicable taxes.
Canadians more satisfied with car insurance, but pricing still a problem
In Ontario, for example, where the Liberal government promised to reduce auto insurance rates by 15 per cent, the survey said the percentage of customers who experienced a rate increase rose to 21 per cent, up from 20 per cent in 2015. However, Ontario saw the most significant improvement in customer satisfaction.
Retroactive Attendant Care and SABS interest
Section 42(1) of the current Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule,1 previously section 39(1),requires an insured to apply for attendant care benefits by submission of a Form 1, the “Assessment of Attendant Care Needs”, completed by an occupational therapist or registered nurse. Typically the Form 1 is submitted and – subject to insurer’s evaluation of the claim – reasonable and necessary attendant care benefits are paid out on an ongoing basis.
Satisfaction with Auto Insurance in Canada Improves for the First Time in Five Years, Says J.D. Power Study
TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Customer satisfaction with auto insurance in Canada increases for the first time in five years, according to the J.D. Power 2016 Canadian Auto Insurance Satisfaction StudySM released today. The increase in overall satisfaction comes at a time when there is a significant amount of consolidation in the market.
Warren Buffett says that self-driving cars will be bad for insurance companies
Warren Buffett — chairman and CEO of global conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway and one of the wealthiest people in the world — hauls in a good deal of revenue from Berkshire-owned auto insurer Geico. But in the long term, Buffett thinks, insurers like Geico are going to be bringing in less money as self-driving cars start to take over.
http://www.ilstv.com/warren-